Post-Surgery.... What an Adventure

Chris posted his pre-surgery blog, but the real adventure started as soon as we arrived at the hospital and were taken back to pre-surgery. Chris's best friend and best man, Hogan was having shoulder surgery the same day and with the same surgeon. What are the odds? Turns out that Hogan was in a pre-surgery room right across the way from us. The 2011 spring flag football season turned out to be more than we expected not only for Chris, but 2 other guys as well who ended up with injuries, one of whom was Hogan. So the fact that Chris and Hogan were in hospital gowns about to go under the knife was hysterical, as we could hear each other talking "behind the curtain".

One funny time in particular was when the nurse's aide came to shave Chris's knee for surgery. My incredibly handsome husband has minimal chest hair and NO back hair (praise the Lord), but he has been blessed w/ a good amount of leg and arm hair. So, the aide comes in and gets the electric razor out and when Chris removes his leg from under the blanket she says, "Whoa, you're a hairy one, if I had to shave you're whole leg, I'd need a second razor." Well, Chris and I burst out laughing. Right about that time we also heard laughter coming from Hogan and Laura, b/c the aide said it loud enough for quite a few folks to hear. The aide was really sweet though, she immediately apologized when she heard them laugh and said her voice is louder than she realizes most of the time. We told her it was okay, not to feel bad that we actually knew Hogan and Laura, and thus why they were laughing too.

The surgery procedure itself went really well, with no bumps in the road. Answered prayer! When I was finally able to see Chris in recovery, the nurse said he had been asking for me since he woke up. (ahh so sweet:) When I got to his bedside he was real groggy of course and they had just put some phenergan in his IV b/c he was feeling nauseous. So I had about 5 minutes with him and then he fell asleep mid-chew of a saltine cracker. Lol! He has no recollection of the physical therapist making him walk a few steps or the entire car ride home. He didn't say anything super funny or awkward, but what I did find was the anethesia in his body made him real sweet and mushy to me, which I enjoyed of course.

On the unfortunate side of things we discovered only after several days of use and feeling like he had a severe case of the stomach virus, that Chris was allergic to his post-surgery meds. He also ended up with significantly more bruising and swelling than most patients. So needless to say it was a rough 10 days post-surgery for Chris. Thankfully, once the meds were finally out of his system and the doctor removed some of the inflammation from his knee, he started feeling somewhat normal again. Currently, he is doing phyical therapy twice a week and still in the straight-leg brace, but we're praying that at his next post-surgery appointment on Monday he'll be able to change to a new brace that will allow him to drive again! Yay! For the past 2 weeks I've been the taxicab escorting Chris and Ethan to work and daycare everyday.

One day our taxicab about turned into an episode of Sanford & Son. We can look at it as funny now, but of course in the midst of it I about had a complete meltdown. Day 6 of post-surgery was probably the WORST for all of us. Chris was feeling terrible and we at that time couldn't figure out why, instead of improving he seemed to be getting worse. Ethan hadn't been sleeping well b/c our schedule was all out of wack due to Chris's surgery. Then, our dog Mattie decides to have her version of the stomach virus too where she got sick about 6 times in the span of 5 hours in the middle of the night. So the next morning, this sleep deprived mom covers the entire car interior w/ towels and loads up Ethan in the back seat in his carseat, Daddy Chris joins him in the back sitting horizontally b/c at this point his leg must be elevated at all times, and last but oh not least Mattie Lou hops up front in her crate in the passenger seat, hoping not to get sick again before we get her to the vet and Chris to his check-up. I wish someone would have been around to take a picture, b/c it was certainly a site to see! Thankfully we all made it there and back in one piece with no accidents. Looking back I know this was a memory made and one we'll remember for a long, long time...